White-haired Meira, one of eight surviving Winterians, has endured hardships and uncertainties in her sixteen years. Primoria, the complex world she lives in, contains eight unique kingdoms ruled by gender-specific monarchs who, with the help of magical conduits, wield amazing powers. It is Meira’s lot in life to navigate this complicated world. As she matures into a seasoned warrior, struggles with friendship and acceptance, and is played as a political pawn, she learns an uneasy truth: The saving of her kingdom and the freedom of its enslaved people will be determined by her bravery, cunning, and determination. Typical of a fantasy with a strong female protagonist, this story contains a love triangle, self-discovery, and some social commentary. The straightforward plot gets bogged down with interesting—but repetitive—backstory and world-building. The author has a tendency to pause the story prior to a pivotal point in the action to engage in massive information dumps. Meira, the story’s narrator, is a contradiction. Her voice is that of a contemporary teenager, yet the world she lives in is medieval. She is constantly whining about having few fighting skills yet is capable of battling ruthless soldiers and escaping from life-threatening situations. While she cares about re-establishing Winter, her defeated kingdom, she often goes about it in a reckless manner, causing possible harm to others. The language and sexual content of this book are acceptable for middle school readers; however, the violence is graphic. Reviewer: Lynne Farrell Stover; Ages 11 to 18.
2014-08-27
A carefully crafted fantasy grapples with intense issues. In Primoria, the world protagonist Meira inhabits, there are eight kingdoms: four Seasons, in a perpetual state of the season they're named for, and four Rhythms that cycle through all four. Meira is one of the remaining eight free Winterians: Sixteen years prior to the opening of the book, King Angra of Spring attacked Winter, slaying its queen, destroying its Royal Conduit (a locket used by a female ruler to magically aid her country) and enslaving the surviving Winterians. Attempting to reclaim half the locket, Meira is captured but almost instantly escapes due to quick thinking and her military training—a feat that Raasch makes surprisingly believable. Her complicated relationship with Mather, heir to the Winterian throne, is put on hold when Spring scouts follow her to camp and the refugees must flee to the Rhythm of Cordell—where Meira meets the instantly likable Prince Theron and discovers she's very much a pawn in a bigger game. The dramatic twist toward the end is impressive both in its believability and its unpredictability. Unfortunately, Raasch's world is racialized, and the heroic Winterians are pale and beautiful. While the villain is also fair-skinned, the choice to valorize whiteness is perhaps ill-considered given the fraught history of racial stereotyping in high fantasy.This heavy high fantasy manages moments of humor and beauty for a satisfying read. (Fantasy. 12 & up)
